The Length She Goes

Madame Miette was floating alongside Diamond, talking her heart out about the shittiest romance novel ever conceived by a Pokemon. “And then- get this! The Bisharp, right? She goes to the Spinda and says, ‘No, madame, I had never made a love potion, and if I did, I wouldn’t use it on you. After all, that would require… Blackroot. And the thing is, right? We know what he had earlier wasn’t that but instead a different-”

“Yeah uh huh yeah uh that sucks.”

“Sucks? Oh, my dearest ‘Diamond’!!!” Just as obnoxiously as ever, the ghost chuckled far into the echoes of the bramble, her voice pestering wild Pokemon for miles. “Of course a h-euuuu-man like you wouldn’t understand, but this was pivotal! It means that Lilac’s feelings were true all along! And, of course…”

“Auuuugggghhh.” Diamond lowered her head into her palms before snorting a booger onto the ground- much to Miette’s disdain. “Don’t you wanna talk about how freaking rich we’re gonna be instead? After the mission?”

“Rich?”

“Uh duh. We got the uuuuh, the what’s’it’called? The Southern Couldor Lilac. Got that on my first try… wow. That’s like, uber freaking rare, right?”

The ghost lingered on a thought, finger contemplatively resting on her chin. “Well, yes, I suppose that’s true. I don’t understand the excitement, though.”

“Uhhhh, I thought you were supposed to be the smart one, dingus.” Diamond pulled out the flower, tapping it. “Rare flower? More money?”

Madame Miette slowly fostered a wicked smile, snickering as her gaze grew more condescending. “Oh, my dearest Diamond, didn’t you know? The mission pays out all the same, no matter what flower you bring! It’s a matter of equity… Hohoho!”

“... What.”

“Don’t look so shocked, Diamond!” She lowered her smile into something more sinister. “You asked for the rarest flower around. I told you the rarest flower around. I think it’s good for character growth, going the extra mile for missions. You should be happy you have the opportunity to help like this. It’s something you’ll come to appreciate as a human.”

“... Yep, ayeup, uh-huh. Hey, Miette, watch this.” Diamond held the flower out before, suddenly, tearing it to shreds and throwing it to the wind. If anything would’ve provoked an appalled glare from Miette, it would have been that.

“DIAMOND! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!” She darted about, attempting to catch a few torn fragments betwixt her claws, to no avail.
“I don’t play games homie.”

Miette shrunk as her back was turned to Diamond, her head slunk low before she turned to Diamond with a murderous glare. “You’re a real piece of work, you know that? I don’t need to eat. You do. You’re just hurting yourself. Because you’re ignorant, and rude, and you’re just a hassle, like the rest of you humans.”

“Coolio. Go home. I’m gonna take a walk.” She turned her back to Miette. “Peace. See you next week or something. Bye.”

Miette clenched her claw, a hexagon of Hex flames spawning around her- although she dismissed them shortly after. “Hmph. You’ll learn one way or another, Diamond. You’ll learn just how bad you make yourself look.”

…

---

Okay, well, Diamond REALLY wanted that reward, still. After all that mess, though, and with nothing to return, she did what she did best- underhandedly forced something that didn’t quite belong to her into her rightful possession. 

Standing outside the town- by one of the main roads, a hotspot for travel- she watched and waited, keeping an eye out for any other guild members passing by. It wasn’t the most cunning plan- she did her best to look inconspicuous, but it was mostly that no one wanted to talk to a punk kid that kept her from attracting the wrong kind of attention too quickly.

Once she found a lone and unsuspecting Eevee, though- one who had worked so diligently to collect some wonderfully vivid blue dyes, harvested from some local berries…!

“Hey, kid, watch out…”

BWACK! THWACK!

Mission Complete! Diamond turned in the 3 blue dye!

… But, of course, for something so blatantly vile… No one could just turn a blind eye to that. This was, perhaps, the start of the end of Diamond’s time as a guild member.